


Have a Little More Faith!

by ElizabethPring



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Comfort, and I really believe that Alastor is too, but I do believe that by this point he has grown to care about her, but other than some violence mentions in the second chapter its pretty tame, gosh though Charlie is so cute, just two demons having a conversation about faith, marked at least teen cause of source material, shes trying her best, so any relationship between him and Charlie is purely platonic, this follows the cannon that Alastor is ace/aro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25519306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizabethPring/pseuds/ElizabethPring
Summary: “Humans are creatures of habit, sinful and wretched, akin to demons...the only real difference is their feeble exteriors.”“I...I wouldn’t know.”“And isn’t that just the purest form of irony? The only demon that this hotel has a chance of helping is the one denizen of hell that has no life to repent?”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	Have a Little More Faith!

“Hello, mom. It’s me again. The business, it uh...it hasn’t really improved. I’m trying so hard; I don’t know what to do.”

Charlie’s hollow words felt as empty as the dark alleyway that she was currently standing in, with the cold, brick of the wall behind her offering little emotional support. 

She wasn’t sure how long she held the phone to her ear as she stared up in silent thought at some dilapidated billboard coated in half lit neon lights. Perhaps she was hoping that, by some miracle, her mother would finally pick up if she just waited long enough. 

The only thing that ended the call was the realization that she had started crying, and she forced out a harsh, “love you, bye,” before stuffing her cell away.

“Snap out of it.” She muttered as she rubbed her tired face, pacing a few steps back and forth in frustration. “You can do this.”

She puffed out her chest and threw back her shoulders, but most importantly, put every ounce of confidence that she could muster into a smile, keeping it bright as she strode back to the front doors of the hotel.

It wasn’t like she had anyone to impress, though. It was late, and most of her co-workers had wandered back to their rooms or out to one of the many clubs that lined the city streets. But, just in case, she kept her cheery demeanor, not feeling in the mood to explain herself if she  _ was  _ stopped. 

In her pursuit to escape up the stairs and deep within the sheets of her bed, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. 

She turned her head, squinting through an archway at a roaring fireplace sitting against the far wall. 

“Something wrong, Belle?”

She jumped at the voice, not even realizing that someone was sitting in the large armchair that faced the mantle until that moment. “I thought someone was careless enough to leave the...uh...I’ll leave you to whatever you’re doing; sorry…”

“Nonsense, you have impeccable timing.”

“I...what?”

“Could you spare a moment and join me?”

Charlie stayed frozen in the archway, her confidence waning more with every second. “I’m uh...a bit busy right now. Can it wait?”

Alastor glanced behind himself, an arm rested heavily against the side of the chair. His usual grin was plastered across his face, though it became slightly subdued once he got a better look at the princess. “Smiles don’t complete an outfit if they’re forced, my dear.”

She clenched her teeth into a much more awkward expression. “Heh, yeah...I’m fine;  _ thanks for asking _ .”

Her last words were filled with the unbridled bitterness she had been holding in, fueling her to march away into the dark hallway. Though, her anger could only push her so far, and once she came to her senses, she was once again frozen, this time with guilt. 

With a sigh, she spun back around, meekness taking over now that she had finally and reluctantly relaxed. “Look, Alastor, I’m…”

She paused for a moment, watching as he slipped a bookmark in between pages and set his reading aside, before picking back up her sentence. “I’m sorry.”

His smile turned into a smirk, though all Charlie could see from her position was fingers tapping rhythmically against an arm rest. “If you do find yourself busy at such an hour, don’t let me keep you. But if your excuse was as weak as your smile, I would implore you to take a look at some books that I found.”

She took a few hesitant steps forward, followed by a few more...it wasn’t long until her curiosity outweighed her bad feelings. “T-this one?”

He chuckled, lightly pushing her hand so it was pointing at a trilogy that had stacked up on the table next to him. “No, no...trust me, dear, you wouldn’t want to read the things that  _ I _ like.”

He was probably right, a book titled  _ ‘1929: What Went Wrong?’ _ , didn’t exactly sound like it’d spark her interest. On the other hand, her eyes positively lit up when she saw the other covers. 

They were cheesy, yes, but there was something so magical about the idea of brave knights saving damsels in distress from badly photoshopped in dragons. 

“Al, this is...where did you find these? They’re incredible!”

He gave a more hearty laugh, plucking his own book back up as he watched her usual, bouncy personality come back to life. “Never you mind; run along now.”

“Hold on; I’ve never seen a creature like  _ that _ before. They look so weird!”

“Hm? How so?”

“Well…they’re so pale...and their eyes are so small...As princess of hell; I thought I knew  _ every  _ demon…”

“Those are humans, darling.”

“ **What** .” Her exclamation echoed through the halls, complete with a shocked voice crack, and she was quick to throw a hand over her mouth in embarrassment. “I mean... _ of course _ they’re humans. I’ve seen plenty; who doesn’t know what a  _ human  _ looks like?”

“They are quite peculiar creatures.”

“You used to be one, right?”

Up until now he had been idly reading; it took that question to pry his eyes away from the words. “I believe that every citizen of hell was at some point, yes. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, um...no, it’s silly.” She waved her hand dismissively, as if to wave away the awkward air before scooping up the books. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Mhm.” He only made a soft noise of confirmation before glancing back down in silence, though he did have one more thing to add by the time Charlie was halfway across the room. “Humans are creatures of habit, sinful and wretched, akin to demons...the only real difference is their feeble exteriors.”

She stopped walking, taking a moment to process her thoughts. “I...I wouldn’t know.”

“And isn’t that just the purest form of irony? The only demon that this hotel has a chance of helping is the one denizen of hell that has no life to repent?”

“Well...what about you? Sure, you  _ do  _ have a life to repent, but…”

“If it was that easy, hell would be a ghost town.” He pinned a dry laugh at the end, amused by his own accidental joke. “Though...I guess that is already the case.”

She pouted grumpily with tensed up shoulders; the only thing that kept her from crossing her arms was the stack of books in her hands. “You know,  _ maybe _ demons need to have a little more faith in themselves.”

He chuckled again, his voice just as dry as before. “Is that so? I would argue  _ quite  _ the opposite, but who am I to say?”

After a minute, Alastor’s eyes rose to the fire, and he used some of his powers to lift a fresh log into the dying flames. “If you haven’t already retreated to your room; could I interest you in a story?”

It  _ was _ true that Charlie had lingered, only getting as far as the doorframe even though she could have very easily been up the stairs and out of earshot by that point. “I just don’t understand how having  _ no _ faith could get you into heaven, can you explain-”

“That isn’t what I said, darling.”

She glanced back, watching the flames slowly start to rise once more. “But you said the opposite…”

His words were forceful, airing on the side of impatience while he tapped his fingers against the arm rest. “Do you want the story or not?”

“Oh, um...yes, please! Sorry, I just-”

He put up a hand to shush her before using it to wave her over. “No need for that, princess. You wanted to know of my time as a human, correct?”

Alastor rumbled a deep laugh, amused by the way that Charlie plopped down on the floor in front of him and nodded at his question. “Let me find you something more comfortable, dear.”

She looked up, giving the chair that suddenly appeared beside him a quick once over. It was pure white, the seams held together by dark, black thread. Which, interestingly enough, was the opposite color scheme of what the radio demon was sitting on. 

“Thank you.” She muttered sheepishly, feeling a pang of embarrassment for acting so childish. 

“I must warn you, princess; this story is much darker, more real than anything you are going to find within the pages of those novels. But it’s also one that I’ve shared with very few, mostly because it’s...it’s quite hard to recount.”

When she leaned in, he gave a weary smile, still characteristically large, but marginally softer, more vulnerable even…

He huffed a sigh, resting back in his chair as his full grin returned. 

“Al, remember what you told me?”

Her voice was so soft, it felt like someone had thrown a pillow at Alastor’s face, giving him a split second reaction before his expression relaxed. “Hm?”

“There’s no use faking a smile. Messes up your outfit…”

He caught her eye, feeling slightly intimidated by her boldness, even if he tried his best not to show it. “You were  _ terrified  _ of me when I first showed up.”

“I wouldn’t say that. More, uh...cautious.”

“I see.”

It was the first time since Alastor had arrived in hell that he didn’t know what to do with his face, what expression he was even supposed to be making. He almost regretted going down the rabbit hole with Charlie in the first place, but...what was done was done, he supposed.

“I would like to tell you about the day I died.”


End file.
